Overpowered Reincarnation Perks! - Chapter 22.3

“Do you still hate me?”

Senes was silent.

Thanks to the bright sunlight reaching even the bed where we both sat, the silence didn’t feel heavy. I fiddled with the blanket, moving my fingers restlessly. The sunlight on the back of my hand was warm.

I was glad the weather was clear. If even the sky had been gloomy, I think I really would have cried.

“Yes. I hate you.”

And here I thought he liked me at some point. Was that just the Charm effect after all?

“I hate the way you live.”

“……”

“And I hate seeing you like that.”

“…?”

“I hate that you have no memories, and I hate that you act like you have to take responsibility for the lives of everyone in the world again, even though you don’t know the common sense of this world.”

My chest twinged at his last words, and I raised my head. When our eyes met, Senes averted his gaze, but his posture was still facing me.

“Give up what you need to give up, Ju-in. Let go of your greed a bit.”

“What greed are you saying I have?”

“The thought that you have to sacrifice yourself to save others is arrogance. You’re not a savior. It’s the natural order for a castle whose dominion has ended to collapse under a monster attack. I mean, don’t try to save people as if you’re something special.”

“…You knew?”

Senes knows that the Lord is dead and that I’ve become the new Lord. How? Even Lupe, Dienes’s direct subordinate, didn’t know.

It’s not like he’s Arvan, who’s been living in the castle all along, and Senes shouldn’t have the level of intelligence to know confidential matters of the command center, right?

“There are ways to know everything.”

“Do you have some kind of precognition ability?”

“If I can’t tell by looking at your face, wouldn’t that make me a fool?”

If he guessed this situation without even knowing my skills, it’s not deductive reasoning but more like divine inspiration. If that’s the case, he should have become a shaman instead of a monster hunter.

“Knowing this, you’re telling me to stop now?”

“Yes.”

“If I become the Lord, I can protect this castle. I can save countless people. How can I not do it when I can?”

“Just because you can do something, does that mean you have to do it? Did those people entrust their lives to you?”

“That’s not it, but people are dying…!”

“Let them die.”

For a moment, I doubted my ears. Did I hear that wrong?

But even seeing my shocked face, Senes spoke as if it was obvious, with an expression of annoyance.

“Ordinary people can’t save them anyway. Are you not satisfied unless you save every person in danger in the world? Are you the master of this world? Thinking it’s your responsibility that you couldn’t save people from death isn’t philanthropy, it’s arrogance.”

“Senes.”

“Stop it now, Ju-in.”

Senes shook his head, holding his forehead as if he had a headache. I’m the one trapped here, going through all sorts of hardships, but I couldn’t understand why he seemed more distressed.

He says he hates me, but why does he react so sensitively to my pain?

“I can’t stop. If I do, I’ll die.”

If I don’t complete the hidden quests, my soul will be annihilated in 25 days. That means I’ll really die, right?

It’s not like I have some great spirit of sacrifice that makes me want to save people. I’m doing this because I want to live.

“You’ve died well enough until now.”

“What?”

“I don’t understand why you’re suddenly saying you don’t want to die now.”

It’s not like I wanted to die when I died before. The first time was an accident, and the second time was because that was the end of my lifespan.

“Senes, do you want me to die?”

“I wish you weren’t alone when you died.”

“What did you say?”

“Oh, come on!”

I threw a pillow at Senes. I thought he might at least pretend to get hit out of guilt, but Senes annoyingly dodged it and picked up the fallen pillow, dusting it off.

“No sunlight, no exercise, and even your eating is poor. That’s why your personality is getting worse. You choose to do everything that harms your body from head to toe, and then why are you getting angry at me? It’s ridiculous.”

The ridiculous one is you, barging into my room and nagging from the moment you see me, you jerk.

“I don’t like the food here, so I don’t want to eat.”

“At your age, still being a picky eater……”

“If Senes makes it, I’ll eat.”

I’m not in the mood to eat, and I’m not even hungry. I don’t know if it’s because of the shock or if it’s a sign that my time to die is approaching.

“This woman, really! Do you think I’m your personal cook or something?”

So if you’re not going to cook for me, stop nagging!

“Hah, seriously. I can’t believe this.”

Senes sighed as if dumbfounded, then stood up. The sound of silk clothes rustling was heard as one side of the bed became lighter.

“So, what should I make?”

“What?”

“You must have something you want to eat, right? Since you say the food doesn’t suit your taste, it seems you have something in mind.”

What? Is he really going to make something?

As I blinked, poking just my head out from under the blanket, he tilted his head with his arms crossed. He was criticizing me for sleeping in a crooked posture, but I wonder if he’s aware that his own posture and personality are just as crooked.

“Why are you looking at me like that, Ju-in? Has your mouth gotten stuck? Or are you too hungry to speak?”

“That… are you really going to make something?”

“What choice do I have? It seems you think of me as some kind of maid who will make whatever you want until you’re satisfied when you throw a tantrum about not wanting to eat, so I might as well play that role.”

That’s a strange conclusion.

But having come this far, I can’t refuse either. I quietly rolled my eyes.

“Something spicy…?”

“You’ve been starving all this time. It’ll upset your stomach.”

“You can make it moderately spicy, right? Something warm and savory that will fill me up. Not too greasy, not too heavy to eat, but not a watery soup either, something with a nice consistency.”

“Ju-in. Do you realize how unreasonable your request is?”

“……”

“As long as you understand. Don’t forget it and remember it properly from now on.”

Senes let out a deep sigh, then turned his back abruptly. The sound of his brisk footsteps was followed by the heavy door opening and closing again.

“What on earth…?”

I was so dumbfounded that my sleepiness completely vanished.

I didn’t even really intend to sleep in the first place!

***

It seems his nagging about me eating after starving for so long wasn’t just empty words; Senes returned with my meal at lightning speed.

The table was filled with dishes, and I couldn’t understand how he managed to prepare them in such a short time.

There was a crab meat soup with beaten eggs, meatballs made from minced pork and potatoes mixed into a dough and coated with a spicy sauce, soft white flower-shaped buns rolled into bite-sized pieces, and even fruits and vegetables blended together, probably assuming I wouldn’t eat vegetables if they were hard to chew.

I thought he’d bring something simple like a sandwich since he was in a hurry, but this was much more elaborate.

“Even though I’m an outsider, I was formally invited here. That means I’m a guest. Do you realize how much attention it draws for me to go all the way to the outer castle’s kitchen, get ingredients, and cook personally? I’m saying I didn’t need to do such a bothersome thing at all. If only you hadn’t asked.”

Senes listed in detail how much trouble he had gone through because of me and how much effort he had put into preparing my meal.

Although his tone was boastful, the fact that he had worked purely out of goodwill for me remained unchanged, so I tried to thank him.